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The Philosophy of Yoga
At Susquehanna Yoga, we believe that
understanding and studying the ancient philosophy behind the practice of
Yoga helps our students get the most benefit out of their class time. For
this reason, we include the ‘Philosophy of Yoga’ Lessons in
sequential order in our newsletter. All lessons are also
archived for reference and are
available on this page.
This lesson is primarily instructing a student on how to get to center, or
soul. Yoga is prescriptive - IF you do this, then that will happen.
Yoga teachers sometimes describe to their students how certain poses should
feel, or what happens to their body in a particular posture. But students
must learn to listen to their own body and find their own way.
Classic Yoga instruction takes out the descriptive and is solely
prescriptive, and is therefore the most direct route to the center.
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The Philosophy of Yoga (Yoga
Sutra 1.19)
This lesson is about the danger of misinterpreting a state of absorption with
that of one of true meditation. The second lesson describes what the student
needs to be successful.
“Bhavapratyeyah videha
prakrtilāyanām.” Yoga Sutra 1.19
In this type of samadhi (meditation) the student is freed from all
fluctuations of the mind, but subliminal impressions (bija or
seeds) spring to life the moment he comes out of meditation. In
meditation some evolved students may experience bodilessness and move
about as spirits or angels. If these students get caught up in this
feeling of bodilessness or in completely merging with nature, they will forget
to seek the top of the spiritual ladder and therefore fail to reach nirbija
samadhi (seedless meditation). The student must come out of this state if he
is to stay on the path.
An example of this is when we are absorbed in an interesting worldly activity
the time passes unnoticed. Or when we experience dreamless sleep
in which all thoughts and feelings are temporarily suspended and the senses,
mind, intellect and consciousness rest in the being. This is a non-physical
state of existence and also the state of merging in nature.
In sleep, the two phases (of non-physicalness and merging with nature)
remain unconscious until one wakes, whereas evolved souls in
meditation experience the two states consciously. Sleep is a condition of
consciousness; meditation is a super-conscious state. In sleep,
everything is inert (tamasic); in meditation everything is luminous, untinged by
the elements.
“Śraddhā virya smrti smādhi prajñā pūruakah itarasām.” Yoga Sutra 1.20
Practice must be pursued with trust, confidence, vigor,
keen memory and power of absorption to break spiritual
complacency. These are the five qualities of faith. Highly evolved
souls have the power to discriminate between isolation and emancipation. They
are neither elated by their conquest of the elements nor delighted at their
ability to move freely without their bodies. They develop new means to intensify
their practice. Patanjal; first used the word Svadda to mean
intensity combined with faith, and mental and intellectual firmness.
Natural trust of the student is confirmed by revelation and transformed
into faith. If trust is instinctual, faith is intuitive.
Paraphrased from:
Light on the Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali
B.K.S Iyengar
Philosophy of Yoga Archives:
Invocation Chant
Yoga Sutra 1.13
Yoga Sutra 1.15
Yoga Sutra 1.16
Yoga Sutra 1.17
Yoga Sutra 1.18
Yoga Sutra 1.19
Yoga Sutra 1.21 & 1.22
Yoga Sutra 1.23 - 1.26
Yoga Sutra 1.27
Yoga Sutra 1.28
Yoga Sutra 1.29 & 1.30
Yoga Sutra 1.31
Yoga Sutra 1.33
Yoga Sutra 1.35 & 1.36
Yoga Sutra 1.37
Yoga Sutra 1.39
Yoga Sutra 1.40
Yoga Sutra 1.41 & 1.42
Yoga Sutra 1.43
Yoga Sutra 1.44
Yoga Sutra 1.45
Yoga Sutra 1.46
Current Yoga Sutra
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